The Last Guardian

Playstation exclusives are always, if nothing else, beautiful eye candy. It’s like Sony insists over everything else that their exclusive games showcase the machines graphical prowess. Now I knew from the trailer that The Last Guardian wasn’t going to be a photo realistic piece of eye candy, more an artistic approach to it’s visual feel. However when the first thing you notice is weird glitchy clipping in the animations you know somethings off.

Sadly The Last Guardian’s problems aren’t limited to it’s dated graphics – as we’ve all played fantastic games that have been less than stellar in their graphical presentation. The controls are archaic and unresponsive at best, which really hampers any attempt at immersion. Then there is the gameplay. Quickly you’ll get bored of having to find food for the over sized dog that you’ve been lumbered up with, but that’s not the worst of it.

The Last Guardian is slow, like a snail. Like an old tired snail. At points you’ll be scratching your head wondering what the fuck you’re supposed to be doing, having searched every available inch of the area you’re confined to, but finding no way forward. Then, as if by way of a forgotten command your giant dog wanders over to a part of the area where you need to go. On further explanation you’ll see a way that you’ll swear wasn’t there 10 minutes ago.

It’s not all doom and gloom however, the relationship between the boy and over-sized mystical dog – all conveyed through facial expressions is a thing of beauty on an emotional level. Sadly, good feels alone won’t save The Last Guardian.